More Signs Of Autumn, El Nino Chit Chat

Well I hope you all had a relaxing Labor Day holiday weekend. I planted some new ornamental grasses and a pine tree in my yard -- and went to the Colorado State Fair.

Overall I didn't do enough work inside the house, but that is ok...I relaxed and had fun.

I noticed some frost and freeze advisories in central Oregon today, and recently we had a few in the Great Lakes region.

The days are growing shorter and it will not be long before we see more and more of these issued around the USA.

As we head into the first full week of September, the active weather headlines include Tropical Storm Fred -- which will not even come close to posing a threat to the US coast. The storm will move north in the far eastern Atlantic.


There is an area of disturbed weather off the outerbanks of North Carolina and the National Hurricane Center is watching it for signs of tropical development.

At this time, anticipate unsettled weather along the coasts of North and South Carolina over the next 48 hours.

Elsewhere things are fairly quiet around the lower 48 states with the exception of a cold front sweeping across the northern plains. This weather feature will keep unsettled skies in the forecast from the central Rockies to the Dakotas.

Some lingering monsoonal moisture will keep a chance of showers in the forecast for portions of Arizona and New Mexico -- but given how disappointing this monsoonal season has been, I wouldn't get too excited.

However, some nice rains did fall Monday night across west-central New Mexico with slow moving thunderstorms.

It has been a fairly dry monsoon this season, which began July 1 and ends September 30. The National Weather Service office in Flagstaff wrote a nice report on just how dry it has been across their forecast area. Click here to read.

And recently the topic of El Nino came up on the blog -- and like myself, I am sure you are wondering what the current outlook for the winter season looks like?

Well El Nino is currently in progress, but is weak -- some might call us in a neutral phase right now, meaning neither El Nino or La Nina.

Looking ahead, it really isn't clear if El Nino will crank up again or if we will stay in a neutral phase.

So it is hard to say what the future holds.

If we enter a definite "neutral" phase, I think you can expect a winter that will keep us on our toes. Equal chances for anything is what we can except.

Perhaps a little exciting weather for everyone? That would be fun.